Well…I'm not sure what is inspiring this new story. I don't know what to say except this story has a long road ahead of it.

Disclaimer: Don't own Degrassi.

Here it is: Chapter 1 of If I didn't have you.

No beta..so please excuse any poor written sentences, misspellings, ect.

Maya & Cam- 6th grade

Katie and Marisol-9th grade

Mrs. Matlin has no disease in this story. She is perfectly healthy.

Campbell's family moves around from place to place often.

You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
When the road looks rough ahead
And you're miles and miles from your nice warm bed
You just remember what your old pal said
Boy, you've got a friend in me
Yeah, you've got a friend in me

You've got a Friend in Me; Randy Newman

Maya-

"Bye sweet-heart!" her mother waved with a smile as she watched her youngest daughter climb aboard the bright yellow bus. Maya sat down in the seat directly behind the door. It was right in the driver's line of sight, which meant that no harm could come to her. Waving back at her mother, she smiled until the bus pulled away. Mrs. Matlin knew nothing of the bullying. She knew nothing of the name calling, the pushing, and the exclusion. Maya put on a brave face; she didn't want her mom to worry about her. Her mother had enough to worry about. The young girl pulled out her tiny Mp3 player, plugged her ear-buds in, and tried her best to get ready for the day ahead of her.

Cam-

"You have everything? Backpack…pencils…a smile?" his mother questioned as she pulled up to the drop off area at the school.

"Do you want me to come in with you? Show you your classroom?" her expression hinted at worry, but Campbell knew that she would rather avoid the attention meeting his teacher would draw towards her.

"S'okay. I'll just ask in the office." He muttered, making an attempt to open the door to the car. It was jammed. Again. After several kicks, it creaked open.

"Forgetting something?" his mother called after him." She held her arms open with an expectant look on her face.

"Sorry," he apologized quietly. Gently as he could, he wrapped his arms around her waist. It was a pitiful attempt at a hug, but he didn't want to hurt her. A trip to the Emergency Room two days ago had revealed that she had 3 broken ribs.

"See you tonight! Don't forget! You're taking the bus home!" his mother called after him, as he shut the door.

Children of all ages swerved around him, some greeting friends, others in a hurry to get to class. As he entered the building, he immediately found a door that had giant bubble letters written across the tiny glass window that was inside of it. Main Office.

Shifting his raggedy backpack from one shoulder to the other, he entered the room.
An older woman sat behind a desk that was crowded with papers, pencils, notices, and a jar of Jolly Ranchers.

"What can I do for you sweet heart?" she asked, giving him a pleasant smile as she looked up from the computer that she'd been typing furiously on.

"I'm Campbell Saunders. It's my first day…and my mom told me to come to the office..." his mouth was dry, as he tried to explain, in what he had hoped was a confident voice.

"Oh! Well Campbell, it's nice to meet you. I'm Mrs. Jones. If you give me a minute, I'll just call down to your teacher. Ms. Oh will be happy to finally meet you. Help yourself to a Jolly Rancher sweet heart!" the woman called, as she scooted around on her desk chair, collecting papers with one hand and dialing a phone number with the other.

As much as he'd love to take a piece of candy, he knew that wouldn't be possible. What would his father say? He shuddered at the thought.

"Hi! Winnie? It's Pam. Your new student Campbell is down here in the office, do you want me to bring him down?"

Maya-

Looking down at the ground, she walked through the classroom door. A group of boys sat in one corner, while several girls sat on desks talking and laughing. As she passed, she tried her best to ignore the disgusted look one girl shot her. That girl was Mackenzie Fischer. The most popular girl in the grade was friends with nearly everyone. Except Maya. There was no reason for her hatred of the poor girl, it simply was there.

"Freak," the girl hissed, glaring at Maya with scrutinizing eyes. The other girls nodded in agreement. Biting her lip, Maya tried her hardest not to let these girls get to her. In a couple of years, she'd be out of this school and on to bigger better things. She hung up her backpack on her hook, and slid into her seat in the very back corner, counting down the seconds until class began.

Campbell-

"So Campbell. Do you like to be called that or something else?" The woman in front of him, his new teacher, asked.

"I like to be called Cam…if that's okay," he replied quietly.

"Of course it is! Come on inside, and we can introduce you to your new classmates." The young woman placed a delicate hand on his shoulder. He winced in fear, before realizing that this was school, not home. He'd be safe here.

Ms. Oh-

Something was different with this boy. She knew it from the moment she'd laid eyes on him. He was small, smaller than any other boy in her class, and quiet. Maybe he was shy, maybe he didn't have much to say, whatever it was it made her worry.

As she led him into the classroom, she immediately spotted Maya Matlin, sitting in the back corner. The girl stared down at her desk, like she did every morning. She worried Winnie too. She got perfect grades, and was an absolute sweet heart, but she didn't interact with any of the other students.

"Maya? Can you come here for a moment?" she called to the girl. The chatter of the class room died down for a moment, as the children all glanced from Ms. Oh and Cam, to Maya who had looked up from her desk with startled, wide eyes.

Maya-

She looked up from her desk, worried about what her teacher was calling her for.

"Yes Miss?" she replied hoarsely, approaching her quietly.

"Maya, this is Campbell-I mean Cam. It's his first day, and I thought that maybe you could show him around?"

The girl looked up at her teacher through thick eyelashes. Giving Cam a quick glance, she returned her steady stare at the ground.

"Well Maya? What'd ya say?" Ms. Oh questioned with a small smile.

"Absolutely Miss Oh." she whispered in reply.

"Great! Cam, you can go sit by Maya in the back. She can catch you up on what we've been doing lately," the teacher gave them both an eager smile.

No POV

All through the morning, the two exchanged glances. There was very little conversation between them, but each time they caught each other looking, they would turn away with a smile. It became almost like a game. As lunch time crept close, Ms. Oh released them from class.

Snagging her lunch box off her hook, Maya walked outside to the playground. She passed the girls in her class, who sat up on the monkey bars eating their lunches, and headed towards the bench she always sat at. All alone. Several minutes passed, before Cam joined her. He was lunch less.

"What happened to your lunch?" Maya questioned with a raised eyebrow. It snapped him out of his daze.

"Oh. I..um..forgot it at home," he muttered looking down at his feet. His mother hadn't been able to pack him a lunch today. His father had been in the kitchen, storming about in search of his beer.

"Well here. You can have…half of my PB& J, one of my cookies and my apple." Maya decided, as she dumped out the contents of her music note lunch box.

"We can share my juice box," she added with a smile.

"It's okay, I can eat when I get home. You shouldn't give away your food to a complete stranger like me, anyways." He explained, handing back her offerings.

"You're not a complete stranger Cam. You're my friend. And this is my lunch. I can give it to anyone I want." She stated firmly, nodding her head for emphasis.

"Are you sure? I mean.. you don't have to.." he started, but the look on her face stopped him in his tracks. This wasn't an argument he was going to win.

"Wait..did you just say I'm your friend?" he questioned.

"Well..yeah. If you wanna be," she chose her words cautiously. The tension between them both was making her nervous. It would only be a matter of seconds, before Campbell turned on her. Just like the others. He would realize what a freak she was, and he'd head for the hills.

"I…I'd like to be friends." He decided giving her a smile.

"Really? That's great!" she exclaimed a grin spreading across her face. Wait. Tone it down. Play it cool.

"I mean…that's cool," she corrected herself, blushing.

"I've never had a friend before," he whispered in shock.

"Me neither." She replied. Looking up she glanced at the boy, she couldn't help but smile.

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